Kelly Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Male, Married, Four children. Born in Burlington, Iowa, USA. US Air Force US Air Force

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 16 - 1996. Active Entered space service: 1 May 1996. Number of Flights: 2.00. Total Time: 26.72 days.

NAME: James M. Kelly (Captain, USAF)

NASA Astronaut Candidate (Pilot)

PERSONAL DATA:

Born May 14, 1964 in Burlington, Iowa. Married to the former Dawn Renee Timmerman of Burlington, Iowa. They have four children. He enjoys family activities, biking, softball, reading, music. His parents, William & Mary Ann Kelly, reside in Burlington, Iowa. Her mother and step father, Kathleen and Russ Williams, reside in Danville, Iowa. Her father, Gerald Timmerman, is deceased.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Burlington Community High School, Burlington, Iowa, in 1982; received a bachelor of science degree in astronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1986; a master of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in 1996.

ORGANIZATIONS:

: U.S. Air Force Association of Graduates, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Distinguished Graduate in the class of 1986 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, with honors; Distinguished Graduate of Undergraduate Pilot Training at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, Texas; Top Gun at F-15 initial training at Luke Air Force Base, Phoenix, Arizona; Distinguished Graduate and Liethen-Tittle award for the Outstanding Graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School, class 93B; 2 Air Force Commendation medals, 2 Outstanding Unit Awards, 2 Combat Readiness medals, and various other service awards.

EXPERIENCE:

Kelly received his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy in May 1986 and was designated an Air Force Pilot in October 1987. He then reported to the 426th F-15 Replacement Training Unit at Luke Air Force Base, Phoenix, Arizona for initial F-15 Eagle training. After completion, he was assigned to the 67th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Wing at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. During his tour in Japan, he was designated as an instructor pilot, evaluator pilot, and mission commander. He was reassigned in April 1992 to Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as part of Project TOTAL FORCE, where he continued flying the F-15 as an instructor and mission commander. He was selected for Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Edwards, California, where he graduated in June 1994. After graduation, he was assigned to the Air Force Flight Test Center detachment at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was a project test pilot and assistant operations officer. He was at Nellis when selected for the astronaut program.

He has logged over 1,500 flight hours in more than 35 different aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Selected by NASA in April 1996, Kelly reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996 to begin two years of training and evaluation. Successful completion of initial training will qualify him for various technical assignments leading to selection as a pilot on a Space Shuttle flight crew.

• 8 March 2001 Flight: STS-102. Flight Up: STS-102. Flight Back: STS-102. Flight Time: 12.83 days.

• 26 July 2005 Flight: STS-114. Flight Up: STS-114. Flight Back: STS-114. Flight Time: 13.90 days.

5 December 1983 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 16 selected.. The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. 10 pilots and 25 mission specialists selected from over 2,400 applicants. 9 additional international astronauts.

Discovery's robotic arm and the four space suits the astronauts will use on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday space walks, checked out with no major problems.

As the crew prepared for its sleep period, Discovery was 1,100 statute miles behind Hubble, closing at a rate of 150 statute miles per orbit. Discovery's orbit had been adjusted by firing the two Orbital Maneuvering System engines, mounted in pods on either side of the spacecraft's vertical tail fin. That burn added 79 feet per second to the orbiter's speed. A subsequent firing of Discovery's smaller Reaction Control System jets further refined the orbit by changing Discovery's speed by about eight feet per second.

The pressure in Discovery's cabin was lowered to 10.2 psi at about 1 p.m. Monday. This is part of the procedure to reduce the amount of nitrogen in the blood of space-walking astronauts. Later they will breathe pure oxygen. Those steps are designed to eliminate the possibility of nitrogen bubbles forming in their blood during spacewalks and causing an attack of the "bends," a condition that can affect deep-sea divers brought to the surface too quickly.

A little after 8:30 p.m. CST, four members of the crew, Commander Curt Brown, Pilot Scott Kelly, and Mission Specialists Jean-Francois Clervoy and Mike Foale, participated in an on-orbit interview with three organizations - CBS News, the Hal Uplinger Millennium TV Network and ABS-PBS Millennium Broadcast.

On Tuesday Discovery will approach the space telescope with a series of burns to match its orbit. The rendezvous' terminal initiation burn is to occur at about 4:30 p.m. when Discovery is about eight miles behind Hubble. Brown and Kelly will maneuver the orbiter to a point directly beneath Hubble, then move upward toward it. Clervoy, using the orbiter's robotic arm, will grapple Hubble about 6:40 p.m. and place it on the Flight Service System in the rear of Discovery's cargo bay. There, it can be rotated and tilted to enable space-walking astronauts to better access its equipment bays.

Discovery is in an orbit with a high point of 367 statute miles and a low point of 352 miles. All systems are in excellent condition.

The seven astronauts were awakened at 7:50 a.m. to the song "We're So Good Together" by Reba McEntyre, played for Pilot Scott Kelly at the request of his wife.

This afternoon, Commander Curt Brown and Kelly will check out Discovery's flight control systems and surfaces to support Monday's planned return to the Kennedy Space Center. Later in the day, the astronauts will begin stowing the equipment they've used during the past week on orbit and start buttoning up Discovery's on-orbit systems. The Ku-band antenna, which provides most of the capacity for data and television relay, will be stowed around 8:45 p.m. today.

As the STS-103 mission winds down, the newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope slowly moves through its checkout sequence prior to resuming science operations. Discovery's four space-walking astronauts spent 24 hours and 33 minutes upgrading and refurbishing the orbiting observatory, making it more capable than ever to renew its observations of the universe.

Hubble was released from the end of Discovery's robot arm at 5:03 p.m. Christmas Day. Less than half an hour later, controllers at the Space Telescope Operations Control Center in Maryland reported that the telescope was in normal operating mode. Controllers will perform two weeks of testing before observations resume. At 8 a.m. today, Hubble was approximately 45 miles away from Discovery and separating at the rate of about five miles per 90-minute orbit.

Also on tap at 10:50 a.m. today is the crew in-flight press conference with media at NASA Centers in the U.S. and reporters at European Space Agency sites in Geneva and Paris.

Discovery was launched on mission STS-102 (Space Station flight 5A.1) into an initial 60 x 222 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The mission was delivery of supplies and equipment, and changeout of the Expedition One and Expedition Two station crews. STS-102 carried the Leonardo Multi Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), built by Alenia Spazio (Torino), to the International Space Station. The 6.4 m x 4.6 m cylindrical MPLM was a descendant of the Spacelab long modules. Also carried was a Spacehab/Energia unpressurized Integrated Cargo Carrier with LCA/MTSAS-A, RU, and PFCS. A sidewall adapter beam with two GAS canisters (G-783 and WSVFM) was also on board. WSVFM measured vibration during launch. Another adapter beam, probably at the rear of the payload bay, carried SEM-9. SEM-9 and G-783 contained high school microgravity experiments.

Leonardo carried 16 'racks' of equipment, including the Human Research Facility Rack (Rack 13) which allowed the astronauts to do extensive medical experiments, the CHeCS Rack (28), the DDCU-1 and DDCU-2 racks (7 and 9), the Avionics-3 (Rack 6), and the MSS Avionics/Lab (Rack 11) and Avionics/Cupola (Rack 12) racks for a total of 7 equipment racks to be installed on Destiny. Three Resupply Stowage Racks (50, 51, 52) and four Resupply Stowage Platforms (180, 181, 182 and 188) remained installed on Leonardo, with their equipment bags being individually transferred to the Station. System Racks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 were already on Destiny together with stowage racks 110 through 117. Each rack had a mass of 150-300 kg.

The orbiter fired its OMS engines at 1221 GMT to raise the orbit to 185 x 219 km. Discovery docked with the PMA-2 port on the Station at 0639 GMT on March 10. The LCA (Lab Cradle Assembly) was attached to Destiny's +Z side during an EVA. It was to be used on the next mission to temporarily place a Spacelab pallet on Destiny during installation of the Station's robot arm. Later, it would be the site for the main Station truss, beginning with segment S0.

The PMA-3, on Unity at the -Z nadir position, had to be moved to the port position to make room for Leonardo. An external stowage platform was attached to Destiny and the External Stowage Platform and the PFCS Pump Flow Control System were added to the port aft trunnion on Destiny. A rigid umbilical (RU) was connected to the PDGF grapple fixture on Destiny to support the Station's future robot arm. Leonardo was docked to Unity at -Z for a while so that its cargo could be transferred to the station easily; it was then be returned to the payload bay and brought back to earth.

At 0232 GMT on March 19 command of ISS was transferred to Expedition 2 and the hatches were closed. Discovery undocked at 0432 GMT and flew once around the station before departing at 0548 GMT. ISS mass after undocking was 115527 kg. The OMS engines fired for the deorbit burn at 0625 GMT on March 21, and Discovery touched down on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 0731 GMT.

In preparation for that rendezvous and docking, Discovery's crew was awakened at 6:42 p.m. Thursday to begin its first full day on orbit. The wakeup song from Mission Control was "Living The Life" by the Rockit Scientists, a group of training division instructors with whom shuttle Commander Jim Wetherbee plays drums from time to time.

After wakeup, the crew of four shuttle and three station expedition crewmembers got busy checking out systems and equipment to assist with mission objectives, including the robotic arm, the two spacesuits that will be worn for the first Extravehicular Activity (EVA), and the rendezvous tools to assist with the final hours of Discovery's approach and docking to the station.

The STS-102 crew is made up of Wetherbee, Pilot Jim Kelly, Flight Engineer Paul Richards and Mission Specialist Andy Thomas. The Expedition Two crew consists of Russian Commander Yury Usachev, and Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms.

Usachev, Voss and Helms, will replace Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, who shortly will wrap up a 4-½ month stay aboard the station and return home aboard Discovery.

With a docking test behind it, the Expedition One crew turns its attention to final stowage in preparation for Discovery's arrival.

After Friday's late night docking, the astronauts will perform two space walks outside the ISS to continue the process of outfitting the Destiny research laboratory. The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, built by the Italian Space Agency, will be attached to the ISS late Sunday. It is filled with nearly five tons of equipment, including systems and science racks that will be transferred to Destiny.

The Expedition crews will exchange places on the ISS in a three-step fashion, beginning with Usachev and Gidzenko, who will swap places as Station and Shuttle crewmembers early Saturday within hours after docking.

As of 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Discovery trailed the station by about 7,000 miles, closing that distance at a rate of 700 miles each orbit of the Earth, or every 90 minutes. Simultaneously, the ISS is in good shape and ready to support the shuttle's arrival Friday.

Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas, Paul Richards, Yury Usachev, Jim Voss and Susan Helms rocketed away from Launch Pad 39-B at 5:42 a.m. Central time, lighting up the crystal clear central Florida skies as they began their pursuit of the international complex. Usachev, Voss and Helms, who make up the second Expeditionary crew to the ISS, will replace Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, who were in their 128th day in space and their 126th day aboard the Station as Discovery began its pursuit.

At the time of launch, the three Expedition One crewmembers aboard the ISS were passing over the south Pacific, about 1000 statute miles south of Perth, Australia. Shortly after Discovery reached orbit, a videotape of the Shuttle launch was uplinked to the Station crew on a laptop computer onboard.

Less than nine minutes after liftoff, Discovery's astronauts settled into orbit and went to work to prepare the Shuttle's systems for their planned 12-day mission. The first major task on the flight plan was to open Discovery's cargo bay doors prior to receiving a "go" for orbital operations from Ascent Flight Director Wayne Hale. The astronauts are expected to set up computers and flight deck gear before beginning an eight-hour sleep period at 10:42 a.m. Central time. The Shuttle crew will be awakened at 6:42 p.m. Thursday to begin its first full day in space.

With this morning's successful launch behind them, Discovery's astronauts will turn their attention to their chase of the International Space Station, performing several firings of the ship's jet thrusters over the next 40 hours to set up a docking with the outpost on Friday night just before midnight Central time. Over the ensuing week, the crew will perform two space walks outside the ISS as they help to outfit the recently installed Destiny research laboratory. The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, built by the Italian Space Agency, will be attached to the ISS early next week, loaded with almost five tons of equipment, and systems and science racks for transfer to Destiny.

The Expedition crews will exchange places on the ISS in a three-step fashion, beginning with Usachev and Gidzenko swapping roles as Station and Shuttle crewmembers early Saturday within hours after docking.

Discovery is circling the Earth in excellent shape as it flies in an orbit inclined 51.6 degrees to either side of the Equator. The International Space Station continues to sail around the Earth with no significant systems issues being tracked by ISS flight controllers.

The shuttle crew was awakened with the Russian song "Vashe Blagorodiye," a song from a movie entitled "White Sun of the Desert" that is traditionally watched by cosmonauts the night before a launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The song was played for Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev, who is spending his last day aboard Discovery before beginning a handover of station command with Expedition One crewmember Yuri Gidzenko.

All activities are on track for a docking of Discovery to the station at 11:34 p.m. The final phase of Discovery's rendezvous with the station was to begin with a Terminal Initiation (TI) engine firing by the shuttle at 9:13 p.m. with Discovery about 50,000 feet behind the station. The TI burn puts the shuttle on course to intercept the station during the next orbit of Earth. At about 10:30 p.m., as Discovery reaches a point about a half-mile below the complex, Commander Jim Wetherbee will take over manual control of the approach. Wetherbee will fly Discovery to a position about 300 feet in front of the station, then move in toward a docking port attached to the end of the station's Destiny Laboratory.

During the docking, Pilot Jim Kelly will help control Discovery's approach as astronauts Andy Thomas and Paul Richards manage the shuttle's docking mechanism and rendezvous tools. Using a view from a camera mounted in the center of Discovery's docking mechanism, Wetherbee will center the docking ports of the two spacecraft precisely, double-checking the alignment 30 feet out. The final approach will be at a relative velocity of one-tenth of a foot per second.

When Discovery makes contact with the station's docking port on Destiny, latches will automatically connect the two spacecraft as they fly high off the east coast of Brazil. Once relative motion between the spacecraft stops, Thomas will retract the docking ring on Discovery's mechanism, closing latches to firmly secure the shuttle to the station. The hatches between the shuttle and station are to be opened about two hours later at 1:42 a.m. Saturday.

The crew will begin transferring crews, equipment and supplies immediately. The first crew exchange is planned to allow Usachev to be aboard the station jointly with Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd for as long as possible to facilitate the change of leadership. The hatches will be closed again at 4:37 a.m. Saturday so the shuttle crew can prepare for the first of two planned spacewalks, a sojourn by astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms set to begin Saturday evening.

The stage is set for the eighth shuttle docking to the ISS with both spacecraft in good shape.

Overnight, the STS-102 astronauts Jim Wetherbee, Jim Kelly, Paul Richards and Andy Thomas, and Expedition 2 crew members Yury Usachev, Jim Voss and Susan Helms installed and checked out a targeting camera, extended the orbiter docking system's spring-loaded docking ring and unpacked rendezvous tools such as laptop computers and hand-held range-finders. They are scheduled to begin an abbreviated seven-hour sleep period at 9:42 a.m. today. When the crew wakes up at 4:42 p.m. to begin their final rendezvous activities, Discovery will be about 40 miles behind and slightly below the ISS.

About 9:15 p.m., at a distance of about nine miles behind the station, Wetherbee will fire Discovery's engines in a Terminal Initiation (Ti) burn, allowing the shuttle to close in, using its rendezvous radar system to track distance and approach speed. Once Discovery is about half a mile below the station, Wetherbee will take over manual control. Wetherbee will fly Discovery slowly to a point about 600 feet directly below the station, then move up and in front of the orbiting outpost. Closing in and stopping a little more than 300 feet directly in front of the station, Kelly will help control Discovery's approach as Thomas and Richards manage the shuttle's docking mechanism and rendezvous tools. Using a view from a camera mounted in the center of Discovery's docking mechanism, Wetherbee will center the docking ports of the two spacecraft precisely, double-checking the alignment 30 feet out. The final approach will be at a relative velocity of one-tenth of a foot per second.

When Discovery makes contact with Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 on the end of the Destiny module, latches will automatically attach the two spacecraft together. Once relative motion between the spacecraft stops, Thomas will retract the docking ring on Discovery's mechanism, closing latches to firmly secure the shuttle to the station

Early this morning, Wetherbee and Usachev received a congratulatory call from Sergio De Julio, president of the Italian Space Agency responsible for developing the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, Leonardo, that holds nearly five tons of equipment to be transferred to the station. Leonardo will be temporarily attached to the station during the first of two scheduled space walks on Saturday, to allow the transfer of the equipment and supplies housed inside.

Meanwhile, on board the ISS, Expedition 1 Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev made last-minute preparations for the arrival of their temporary guests and long-term replacements. The Expedition crews will exchange places on the ISS in a three-step fashion, beginning with Usachev and Gidzenko, who will swap places as Station and Shuttle crew members early Saturday within hours after docking.

"You have a great looking ship there, Captain Shepherd," Wetherbee radioed to the station.

The linkup, which occurred as the two spacecraft were flying above the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of New Zealand, was delayed by about an hour when one of the station's P-6 solar arrays failed to register as being properly feathered to avoid damage from the shuttle steering jet plumes. Wetherbee hovered 400 feet away from the Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 port as he awaited the array latch verification and proper lighting conditions for his final approach.

Station flight controllers and crew members also teamed up to overcome a shuttle communications problem that occurred just after docking. Downlinked signals could not be relayed from the White Sands Ground Station in New Mexico to Houston for about 34 minutes, but messages were passed on to the shuttle crew via the space station control room and a radio link between the station and shuttle.

After hooks and latches created a secure bond, the hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 2:51 a.m. CST, beginning eight days of docked operations. The eighth shuttle mission to the station will feature the first crew exchange aboard the multinational orbiting outpost and the delivery of the first research experiment package for the Destiny laboratory module.

Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev was the first to join Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev aboard the station. He was followed closely by Wetherbee, Expedition Two Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms, and visiting shuttle astronauts Jim Kelly, Andy Thomas and Paul Richards. All 10 crew members spent several minutes greeting each other in the spacious Destiny module.

The arrival of Discovery signaled the beginning of the end of the Expedition One crew's four and a half month stay onboard the International Space Station. The first crew members to trade places Saturday morning were Usachev and Gidzenko. Voss and Krikalev will switch out on Sunday. Shepherd won't trade his personalized Soyuz seat liner for Helms' until Tuesday evening, allowing almost a week for the the two commanders to exchange notes. Shepherd remains in control of expedition operations until the hatches close for the final time next Saturday.

The hatches between the two spacecraft were to be closed temporarily about 5:45 a.m. CST Saturday so that preparations for STS-102's first space walk by Helms and Voss can begin on time at 10:47 p.m. CST Saturday. That space walk will involve preparations for berthing of the Leonardo "moving van," or Multipurpose Logisitics Module to the Destiny module.

The orbiting complex is operating in fine shape at an altitude of 235 statute miles.

The song "From a Distance" performed by Nanci Griffith awakened Discovery's crew, and astronauts Paul Richards and Andy Thomas quickly began preparing for a planned six and a half hour space walk. Richards and Thomas plan to install a stowage platform for spare station parts as well as attach a spare pump to the platform, ready in the event future crews need it. They also will complete the connection of several cables that were put in place by astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms during their space walk conducted on Sunday. The cables, on the exterior of the Destiny laboratory, will be used by the station's robotic arm set for launch aboard the next space shuttle in April.

After the cable connections are completed, Richards and Thomas will climb to the top of the station where the giant, 240-foot wingspan United States solar arrays are attached and attempt to tap a brace for the port side array into its latched position. The brace, one of four, did not latch in place properly when the arrays were installed on the station last year. However, the other three braces are secure and the array's stability has not been a concern. In addition, several quick tasks are planned during the space walk, including work with a connector on the Unity module as part of an analysis of a past lab heater problem; taking photos of a vent on the Destiny lab and of the Zvezda service module's general exterior; and inspecting an exterior experiment called the Floating Potential Probe that has operated intermittently since it was installed on the station a few months ago.

During the space walk, Discovery Pilot Jim Kelly will operate the shuttle's robotic arm to maneuver Thomas as he carries gear between the shuttle and the station. Astronaut Susan Helms will serve as the in-cabin space walk coordinator aboard Discovery.

While Discovery's crew is busy installing exterior equipment, inside the station Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Expedition Two Flight Engineer Jim Voss will continue unloading the Leonardo logistics module. Leonardo, attached to the station last night, carried almost five tons of gear to be installed aboard the complex.

Richards and Thomas are scheduled to begin donning their space suits and associated gear at about 7:42 p.m. and exit Discovery's cabin at 10:47 p.m. The space walk is scheduled to conclude at 5:17 a.m. Tuesday.

Discovery and the International Space Station continue to orbit in excellent condition.

With help from shuttle robotic arm operator Jim Kelly and space walk choreographer Susan Helms, Richards and Thomas installed a stowage platform for spare station parts and attached a spare ammonia coolant pump to the platform. They also finished connecting several cables put in place by Astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms during their nearly nine-hour-long space walk Sunday. The cables, on the exterior of the Destiny laboratory module, will provide power and control of the station's Canadian-built robotic arm. Known as the Space Station Remote Manipulator System, the arm will be delivered and installed by the STS-100 crew in April.

Commander Jim Wetherbee deactivated and then reactivated Leonardo's DC-to-DC power converters and checked out the Lab Cradle Assembly, installed during the first space walk, which eventually will be used to connect the station's large truss structure to Destiny's hull.

Richards and Thomas also scaled the station to the top of its 240-foot-wide solar arrays and were successful in engaging a fourth latch for the port-side array's structural brace. Several other get-ahead tasks also were accomplished during the space walk, including a check of a Unity module heater connection and inspection of an exterior experiment called the Floating Potential Probe that has been operating intermittently. The space walkers reported they did not see any status lights on the probe; investigators on the ground will use that information to continue troubleshooting.

"Well, Andy, we were on top of the world there for a while," Richards said as the pair began returning to the airlock. "Yes, we were," Thomas replied.

The second and final planned space walk of the mission began at 11:23 p.m. Monday, and concluded at 5:44 a.m. Tuesday. The 6-hour, 21-minute space walk brings the total exterior construction time on the station to 124 hours over the course of 18 space walks, and the total EVA time in shuttle program history to 392 hours, 36 minutes over 62 separate space walks.

As Richards and Thomas worked outside the station, returning Expedition One Cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev - now members of the Discovery crew - exercised inside the shuttle to help prepare their bodies for the return to Earth after four and a half months in orbit.

Inside the station, Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, and Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineer Jim Voss continued to unload the Leonardo logistics module. Among the five tons of gear being transferred is the first station research rack, the Human Research Facility, which will be installed inside Destiny this evening.

Discovery's crew will go to bed at 9:42 a.m. CST, and will get an extra half-hour of sleep before being awakened at 6:12 p.m. All station and shuttle systems are working well.

The crews will spend today packing trash and unneeded equipment as well as luggage for the returning station crew in the Leonardo logistics module. They also will have some time off to rest after a busy week spent in space so far. The station crews also will continue comparing notes and handing over duties aboard the scientific outpost. During the handover activities, Expedition Two Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms will begin a thorough checkout of the robotic workstation inside the Destiny Laboratory. It will be used to operate the station's Canadian-built remote manipulator system upon its arrival on the next shuttle mission next month.

The crews were awakened today with the song "Should I Stay, or Should I Go?" performed by The Clash, played for returning International Space Station Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd from his wife, Beth.

Early this morning, near the end of the crew's seventh day in orbit, Discovery Commander Jim Wetherbee performed a reboost of the station and shuttle a day earlier than originally planned to ensure that the complex would remain clear of a piece of spacewalking equipment that floated free during the mission's first spacewalk. The approximately 50-minute long reboost, performed by gentle, repeated firings of Discovery's smallest steering jets, raised the station's and shuttle's orbit by almost two and half statute miles, keeping the complex well away from the lost foot restraint. Two more reboosts for the station are planned to take place later in the flight as originally scheduled for the mission.

Several crewmembers will take breaks from their work tonight to speak with media and students. At 2:17 a.m. Thursday, Wetherbee and Discovery Pilot Jim Kelly will field questions from three media from the Burlington, Iowa, area, Kelly's hometown. At 3:40 a.m., the crew is expected to send a message honoring the 75th anniversary of rocketry. Two hours later at 5:40 a.m., Wetherbee, Shepherd, Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev, and Discovery astronaut Andy Thomas will field questions from school children in Dundee, Scotland.

Discovery and the International Space Station remain in excellent condition in an orbit with a high point of 243 statute miles and a low point of 230 statute miles.

Expedition Two Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms spent most of their workday installing the Space Station Remote Manipulator System workstation inside the Destiny Laboratory. They activated a portion of the system that will be used to route television pictures from docked space shuttles to the control station for use by arm operators. The remaining activation work will start after Discovery undocks Saturday evening.

The Canadian-built appendage will be delivered on the STS-100 mission - set to launch April 19 - and attached to the Lab Cradle Assembly that Voss and Helms bolted to the side of the Destiny Laboratory Module during their space walk Sunday. The station arm's first job will be to install the airlock on STS-104, set for launch this June.

Load master Andy Thomas coordinated the transfer of equipment, supplies, trash and luggage between the station and shuttle with the help of Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and fellow Mission Specialist Paul Richards. All five tons of equipment and supplies delivered aboard the Leonardo Module have been transferred to the station. The crew is now concentrating on packing trash, unneeded equipment and luggage in the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module for return to Earth.

Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Jim Kelly answered questions posed by reporters in the area of Burlington, Iowa, Kelly's hometown. Wetherbee, Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Usachev and Thomas talked with school children in Dundee, Scotland, who are following the mission because the crew is carrying a piece of the sailing research ship RRS Discovery launched 100 years ago at Dundee.

The astronauts and cosmonauts also took some time off to rest after a busy week and to continue handing over duties aboard the scientific outpost.

The station and shuttle are orbiting in fine fashion at an altitude of 240 statute miles following a 50-minute long series of reboost maneuvers. The gentle, repeated firings of Discovery's smallest steering jets took place a day earlier than originally planned to ensure that the complex would remain clear of a piece of equipment that floated free during the mission's first space walk. Further tracking has shown that the 10.5-pound Portable Foot Restraint Attachment Device is about 20 miles below and in front of the shuttle-station complex. Two more reboosts for the station are planned Friday and Saturday.

The crew was awakened to the Irish song "The Rising of the Moon" performed by The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem, selected for Discovery's Pilot Jim Kelly by his family in honor of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow.

Two more full days of joint work remain before Discovery is scheduled to undock from the complex Sunday night. Tonight, in addition to packing work, Commander Jim Wetherbee will perform a third and final reboost of the station's altitude, gently firing the shuttle's small steering jets to raise the spacecraft by a little over two statute miles. Altogether, Discovery will leave the station a little more than seven miles higher than when it arrived.

Wetherbee, Kelly, Paul Richards and Andy Thomas will take a break from other activities to field questions from NBC News' Weekend Today Show and ABC News at 5:20 a.m. Saturday. An hour later, at 6:22 a.m., Cosmonauts Yury Usachev, commander of the second International Space Station crew, Yuri Gidzenko, pilot of the first station crew, and Sergei Krikalev, flight engineer for the first station crew, will field questions from media gathered at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, outside Moscow.

The shuttle and station remain in excellent condition orbiting Earth every 92 minutes.

Almost five tons of equipment and experiments were unloaded from Leonardo during the six days it was attached to the station, and almost a ton of trash, unneeded equipment and items that accompany the returning station crew was loaded aboard. The module is planned to be detached from the station just before midnight Sunday and loaded in Discovery's cargo bay about an hour later.

Flight controllers cleared about three hours of time for Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Jim Kelly aboard Discovery this evening in the event some troubleshooting steps were required with the onboard shuttle flight control computers. Two of the four primary computers were turned on quickly yesterday at the request of Mission Control as part of a general power up to increase the heat being generated by shuttle electronics. The shuttle's cooling system had gotten too cold, causing ice to form in a water line, and controllers needed several more electronics powered on to warm up the cooling system. These electronics normally are off when the shuttle is docked to the station. The procedure worked, and the cooling system quickly returned to normal.

However, while the crew slept Saturday, flight controllers spent the day evaluating whether the quick power up could cause a software glitch onboard. At no time, however, did the onboard computers experience a problem. Still, an extensive analysis was conducted to double-check the system and a decision was made to transition the software loads within the flight computers as a confidence test to ensure they are fully operational.

Meanwhile, all other timelined activities for both the shuttle and station crews continues as the final day of joint operations draws near. Both spacecraft are in excellent shape orbiting 235 statute miles above the Earth, traveling around the globe every 92 minutes.

Mission Specialist Andy Thomas coordinated the loading of about a ton of materials and equipment into the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module with help from Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Paul Richards. The astronauts are to exit the module at 8:42 p.m. CST, deactivate it at 9:02 p.m. and uncouple it from the station at 11:52 p.m. Using the shuttle's robotic arm, they are to latch it in the payload bay at 12:57 a.m. Sunday.

Commander Jim Wetherbee set in motion the third and final reboost of the station's altitude by executing a programmed series of gentle steering jet firings. The third reboost raised the shuttle altitude two statute miles, making the total reboost imparted during the STS-102 mission a little more than seven statute miles.

Departing Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev concentrated on sharing their handover notes with Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss.

Kelly, Richards and Thomas took time to answer questions from NBC News' Weekend Today Show and ABC News. About an hour later, Usachev, Gidzenko and Krikalev talked with reporters gathered in the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, outside Moscow.

Discovery is scheduled to undock from the station at 10:32 p.m. Sunday. When Discovery undocks from the station, it will mark the end of the Expedition One crew's 136-day stay onboard the outpost, beginning with their Nov. 2 arrival onboard a Soyuz spacecraft.

The shuttle and station remain in excellent health orbiting Earth at an altitude of approximately 235 statute miles.

After crewmate Paul Richards released the 16 bolts and associated latches holding the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to its Common Berthing Mechanism port, Thomas received a "go" to begin moving the module with the shuttle's 50-foot-long robotic arm about 4:40 a.m. CST. About 90 minutes later, at 6:08 a.m., the Italian-built module was securely latched back in its its cargo bay cradle, ready for return to Earth.

Leonardo's unberthing occurred about four hours later than originally scheduled, due in part to a leaky vacuum access hose used to depressurize the small vestibule between Unity and Leonardo. The hatches between the two modules were closed and the vestibule was depressurized, but after a 15 minute leak check period, ground controllers noted pressure in the vestibule was not at expected levels. Expedition Two flight engineer Jim Voss reported he had found - and tightened - a loose fitting on one of those hoses. The crew was then asked to repeat the depressurization procedure, a process that takes approximately 45 minutes, to verify good seals between the modules. With that action complete, Thomas was given a go to proceed with the unberthing of Leonardo.

Also overnight, Commander Jim Wetherbee and Pilot Jim Kelly verified the performance of Discovery's general purpose computers. Ground analysis indicated that Saturday morning's quick power-up of two of those computers would not affect their performance, but flight controllers elected to perform the on-orbit procedure to validate the software load.

Discovery's crew is scheduled to begin its eight-hour sleep period at 8:42 a.m., waking at 4:42 p.m. The Expedition Two crew will go to sleep one hour later, at 9:42 a.m. and will awaken at 5:42 p.m. The hatches between Discovery and the ISS will be closed for the final time on this mission at 7:37 p.m. today following a final farewell between the STS-102 crew and the two Expedition crews. Discovery is set to undock from the ISS at 10:32 p.m. today, concluding a 136-day stay on board the station for its first resident crew - Commander Bill Shepherd, Soyuz Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev.

The hatches between the shuttle and station were to be closed for a final time at about 7:30 tonight, leaving Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and his Flight Engineers, astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms, aboard the complex. The second crew is beginning a four-month stay aboard the station that will see the complex continue to grow in research capability and self-sufficiency as a robotic arm, more experiments and a new airlock are attached on future missions.

The first station expedition crew - led by Commander Bill Shepherd with Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev - is returning home after having brought the complex to life during its stay. The Expedition One crew docked to an uninhabited station that was about half the size and had only a fraction of the capability of the orbiting science complex and permanent home they are departing. The crews bid one another farewell about an hour before the hatch closing.

"We are on a true space 'ship' now, making her way above any Earthly boundary," Shepherd said as he handed command to Usachev.

"This ship was not built in a safe harbor but on the high seas," Discovery Commander Jim Wetherbee added.

During the almost nine days Discovery has been docked at the station, the crews unloaded almost five tons of experiments and equipment and repacked almost a ton of returning items. Discovery's mission also has set the stage for the continued expansion of the station when a Canadian robotic arm is launched aboard the shuttle Endeavour next month. Pilot Jim Kelly will be at the shuttle's helm as Discovery undocks from the station tonight, planned to occur at 10:32 p.m. Kelly will guide Discovery in an hour-long station flyaround where he will circle the station one and a quarter times, 450 feet away, while the crew records television and photos of the exterior.

The hatches between the shuttle and station were closed for a final time at 8:32 p.m., about an hour after departing Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd passed responsibility for the station to Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev. As the hatches closed, Usachev, and flight engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms marked the start of their four-month stay on orbit. The previous Expedition crew - Shepherd and Cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev - are now headed home on board Discovery.

After the undocking -- which occurred as the two vehicles flew over Guyana, South America, and its capital of Georgetown -- Pilot Jim Kelly flew Discovery one-and-a-quarter turns around the space station before initiating a final steering jet separation burn at 11:48 p.m. CST. During the flyaround at a distance of 450 feet the crew recorded television and still images of the station's exterior.

The two vehicles were docked for a total of 8 days, 21 hours, 54 minutes, which brings the total time shuttles have been docked to the station to 55 days, 23 hours, 7 minutes. The hatches were open for a total of 142 hours, 22 minutes during three periods punctuated by space walk-necessitated closures.

Over the course of joint operations between the station and shuttle crews, Discovery Commander Jim Wetherbee, Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Paul Richards worked with the station crew unloading almost five tons of experiments and equipment from the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, and packing almost one ton of items for return to Earth. Discovery's space walkers - Voss and Helms, and Thomas and Richards -- also set the stage for continued expansion of the station by installing a platform that will be used to mount a Canadian-built robotic arm to the station next month.

After undocking, Discovery's crew spent the rest of the day exercising, talking with their families and enjoying some scheduled off-duty time. The shuttle crew will go to sleep at 8:12 a.m. and awaken at 4:12 p.m., while the station crew will begin its sleep shift at 3:30 p.m., awakening at midnight.

Landing is scheduled for 11:56 p.m. CST Tuesday (12:56 a.m. EST Wednesday), but Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale and his team are carefully watching weather conditions at the primary landing site. With low clouds, possible rain and gusty crosswinds expected at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Hale decided to activate support at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Wednesday when conditions are expected to be at their best this week.

The first landing opportunity begins with a deorbit burn on Orbit 200 at 10:50 p.m. CST Tuesday and ends with landing at 11:56 p.m. in Florida. The second opportunity on Orbit 201 starts with an engine firing at 12:26 a.m. CST Wednesday and ends with landing in Florida at 1:31 a.m. The third chance calls for an Orbit 202 deorbit burn at 1:57 a.m. CST Wednesday and landing at Edwards at 3:02 a.m. The final prospect of the crew day begins with an engine firing at 3:33 a.m. CST Wednesday and ends with a California landing at 4:38 a.m.

Wetherbee and the shuttle crew - Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Paul Richards - spent the day packing for the trip home and completing checks of the steering jets and flight controls the shuttle will use. They also fired Discovery's orbital maneuvering system engines to adjust the shuttle's orbit and optimize landing opportunities, testing the braking rockets they use to begin re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

ISS Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd and crewmates Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev took time out from their packing to answer questions posed by three television news reporters. Tonight, the returning Expedition One crew members will set up the reclining seats to help ease the stress of landing on their bodies, which have not experienced gravity for four and a half months.

Meanwhile, the Expedition Two crew aboard the station - Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss - began settling into their new home and shift schedule. Awakening at midnight Tuesday, they began their daily exercise regimen and set up the station toilet for use by its first female crew member.

The crew aboard Discovery is scheduled to begin its sleep shift at 7:42 a.m. CST and wake up to begin final landing preparations at 3:42 p.m. Bedtime for the station crew is 3:30 p.m. CST.

There are two landing opportunities available this evening for Discovery's return to the Kennedy Space Center. The first landing opportunity begins with a firing of the Shuttle's orbital maneuvering system engines at 10:50 p.m. for an 11:56 p.m. landing. A second opportunity, one orbit later, begins with a deorbit burn at 12:26 a.m. Wednesday, resulting in a landing at 1:31 a.m. Weather at the Kennedy Space Center is not expected to be favorable today, however, with the possibility of high winds, rain and clouds in the vicinity of the Shuttle Landing Facility. The backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in Calif. was called up for landing support this morning and weather conditions are expected to be acceptable there for landing. Flight controllers will continue to monitor the weather at both landing sites and Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale is expected to make a decision regarding landing opportunities shortly after 10:30 p.m. today.

Discovery's astronauts are scheduled to begin their deorbit preparations at 6:53 p.m. today - configuring the shuttle's computers for reentry, deactivating the galley and installing seats on the flight deck and middeck. The payload bay doors are scheduled to be closed at 8:10 p.m.

If given a go to land, Wetherbee and the shuttle crew - Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Paul Richards will perform a series of procedures that will lead to the firing of the Shuttle's large orbital maneuvering engines later this evening, beginning the crew's hour-long reentry to Earth. Discovery is also bringing home the first occupants of the International Space Station, Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd and Russian crewmates Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. After 141 days in space, the Expedition One crew will re-enter Earth's atmosphere reclining on seats designed to help ease the stress of gravity and landing on their bodies.

On board the International Space Station, Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss spent a relatively quiet day in space as they enjoyed another day of light activities.

Discovery continues to orbit the Earth in excellent shape at an altitude of 237 statute miles as its astronauts gear up for landing.

STS-102 Commander Jim Wetherbee fired Space Shuttle Discovery's engines at 12:26 a.m. CST to begin the shuttle's descent. With assistance from Pilot Jim Kelly, he made a smooth landing on Runway 15, the 17th night landing in the shuttle program and the 12th night landing at Kennedy. The shuttle had traveled a total of 5,357,762 statute miles.

Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, riding home in reclining seats to lessen the stress, felt the tug of gravity for the first time in 141 days following their Oct. 31, 2000, launch to the station aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule. The Expedition One crew will be reunited with their families in Florida this morning, and then begin a medical and rehabilitation period of about 45 days.

Wetherbee, Kelly and Mission Specialists Paul Richards and Andy Thomas had spent a total of 12 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes on orbit. They had conducted a successful rendezvous and docking with the space station complex, supported two space walks to facilitate the first use of the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and installed a station robot arm anchor point. They also witnessed the first station crew changeout, unloaded 5 tons of equipment and experiments, and packed up a ton of unneeded station equipment and trash for return to Earth on Discovery.

All seven spacefarers are expected to return home to Houston on Thursday afternoon.

Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale made the a decision to land in Florida just before midnight after cloudy skies and gusty winds had cleared due to a low-pressure system that raced through the Shuttle Landing Facility area faster than expected Tuesday night.

On board the International Space Station, Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss were expected to hear word of their compatriots' landing later this morning. The trio spent a relatively quiet day in space getting acclimated to their news surroundings and preparing themselves for what will soon be a busy schedule of activiities continuing the outfitting of the space station and beginning scientific research in its Destiny laboratory.

Discovery lifted off at 9:39 a.m. central time today following a flawless countdown. Over the next 11 days, Discovery's seven person crew will demonstrate techniques for inspecting and protecting the Shuttle's thermal protection system and continue assembly of the International Space Station. Today's launch was the first for a Shuttle since the loss of Columbia and its crew in February 2003.

Discovery's climb to orbit was extensively documented through a system of new and upgraded ground-based cameras, radar systems and airborne cameras aboard high altitude aircraft. The imagery captured of Discovery's launch, and additional imagery from laser systems on a new boom extension for the Shuttle's robot arm as well as data from sensors embedded in the Shuttle's wings, will help mission managers determine the health of Discovery's thermal protection system over the next several days prior to its scheduled Aug. 7 landing.

Less than nine minutes after launch, Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency), Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda were in orbit and ready to open the payload bay doors and unstow their gear in the crew compartment. Moments after main engine cutoff, Noguchi and Thomas used handheld video and digital still cameras to document the external tank after it separated from the Shuttle. That imagery, and imagery from cameras in the Shuttle's umbilical well where the tank was connected, will also be downlinked for review by mission managers and engineers in the ongoing analysis of the tank's condition following ascent.

The crew plans to unberth and test Discovery's robot arm today before beginning an eight-hour sleep period at shortly before 4 p.m. CDT. The arm will be used today to collect imagery of the clearances between the Shuttle's Ku-band dish antenna that provides high data rate telemetry and television, and the end of a new 50-foot boom moored to the starboard sill of the spaceship that will be used tomorrow while grappled to the robot arm for a day-long inspection of the leading edges of Discovery's wings. That survey will help to insure that the wings did not incur any damage during launch.

At the time of launch, the International Space Station was 225 miles above the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia as Discovery began its chase for a docking at 6:18 a.m. CDT Thursday. Aboard the Station, Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer John Phillips were completing preparations for the arrival of the first Shuttle since Nov. 25, 2002.

When Discovery nears the Station early Thursday morning, Krikalev and Phillips will use digital cameras and high-powered 800MM and 400MM lenses to photograph Discovery's thermal protective tiles and key areas around its main and nose landing gear doors.

Housed in the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module in Discovery's cargo bay is 15 tons of hardware and supplies that will be transferred to the Station after the Shuttle docks to the complex.

The astronauts will be awakened late tonight at 11:39 p.m. CDT to begin their first full day in orbit.

During Discovery's approach to the Station, Commander Eileen Collins will pause with the orbiter 600 feet below the Station and perform the first Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver. The motion will flip the Shuttle end over end at three quarters of a degree per second as the Station residents look on with digital cameras at the ready. The flip will provide Expedition 11 crewmembers, Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips, about 93 seconds to photograph the underside of Discovery and its heat-resistant tiles in detail.

The images from Station will be downlinked and added to the host of imagery and data obtained during Discovery's launch and Wednesday's robotic surveys that engineers are analyzing. Imagery released Wednesday showed a piece of foam being shed from the external tank during Discovery's ascent. Other photos showed a variety of smaller tile and foam dings that will be reviewed over the next several days. The crew will also downlink the video taken of the External Tank as it fell away from Discovery on Tuesday and video of the clearance between the Orbiter Boom Sensor System and the Ku-band antenna for review.

Once Discovery's crew has had a safety briefing from the Space Station crew, both crews get to work with more robotic operations to prepare for additional surveys. Discovery Pilot Jim Kelly, Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence, with assistance from Phillips, will operate the Space Station robotic arm, Canadarm2, from inside the Destiny Lab. They will use the arm to lift the Orbiter Boom Sensor System from the payload bay sill and hand it over to the Shuttle arm. Mission Specialists Charlie Camarda and Andy Thomas will operate the Shuttle arm. Clearance restraints around the Shuttle's docking mechanism do not allow the Shuttle arm to grapple the boom on its own.

Spacewalkers Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi have two hours to prepare their tools and equipment for their three spacewalks. Among other things, the first spacewalk Saturday will test thermal protection system repair techniques. Two other spacewalks will repair and install critical hardware outside the Station.

Discovery's crew was awakened at 10:39 p.m. CDT by "It's a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong for Camarda. The Station crew was awakened at the same time by a tone onboard.

Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda received a wakeup call at 11:39 p.m. CDT. The song played for the crew was music from the movie "Groundhog Day," which was for the entire crew to commemorate its first day out of quarantine.

For most of the day, Thomas, Camarda and Kelly will work together on Discovery's aft flight deck to inspect key components of the orbiter's heat shield. For the majority of the inspections the new Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) laser-scanner will be used. The Shuttle's robotic Canadarm will be used to maneuver the 50-foot boom extension after checkout of the system is completed.

In its debut performance, the boom will be used to methodically inspect the leading edges of Discovery's wings and the orbiter's nose cap to insure that they did not incur any damage during launch. The Laser Dynamic Range Imager (LDRI) on the boom will provide two-and three-dimensional imagery. The data will be downlinked to the ground for engineering evaluation.

After those surveys are complete the boom will be placed back on the starboard sill of the payload bay. The Shuttle robotic arm and its cameras will then be used to survey Discovery's crew cabin. Additionally, using handheld digital cameras the crew will photograph tiles on the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods and the orbiter's tail.

During Tuesday's ascent to orbit, the enhanced imaging capability gave flight controllers and mission managers views of the Shuttle Orbiter never seen before. With this heightened ability, engineers were able to see two so-called "debris events." A camera mounted on the external tank caught what appeared to be a small fragment of tile coming from Discovery's underside on or near the nose gear doors. A later image about the time of Solid Rocket Booster separation showed an unidentified piece departing from the tank and exiting away, apparently not striking the orbiter. The crew was notified of these observations and told that imaging experts would be analyzing the pictures.

Mission managers will review the information gathered yesterday and today, including imaging and sensor data, to help determine the health of Discovery's thermal protection system over the next four days before it is cleared for landing later in the flight. Data from the new wing leading edge sensors was downlinked overnight to Mission Control for assessment.

Flight Day Four has time reserved for additional surveys, if required, using the OBSS, either to complete parts of the survey that time would not allow today, or to supplement the survey with "stop-and-stare" scans of sites of potential interest.

Meanwhile, on the middeck, spacewalkers Noguchi and Robinson, assisted by Lawrence, will check out the airlock, spacesuits and tools they will begin using on Saturday. They will also prepare Shuttle systems for docking to the Space Station.

Today Collins will fire Discovery's thrusters twice to refine its approach to the Station. At about midnight, Discovery was trailing the Station by 6,516 statute miles. The two are scheduled to link up at 6:18 a.m. CDT Thursday.

Today the Space Station crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer John Phillips will prepare the complex for Discovery's arrival. They will configure the digital cameras they will use during Discovery's approach, gathering additional imagery of the Shuttle's heat shield. They also will pressurize the Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 (PMA 2) that Discovery will dock to Thursday.

Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda downlinked imagery taken of the External Tank after launch. The crew also photographed the Orbital Maneuvering System pod tile areas and sent down those files. Most of the heat shield survey, taking a close look at the reinforced carbon-carbon of Discovery's wings and nose was sent down live. The rest was sent down before the crew went to bed about 2:40 p.m. CDT.

The data was gathered by the new Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) laser-scanner. Kelly, Thomas and Camarda, with some help from other crewmembers, operated the Discovery's Canadarm and the 50-foot boom extension at its end for the survey. The OBSS was reberthed and Canadarm and its cameras were used to survey the tile area around the crew cabin.

Preparations for docking included a checkout of rendezvous tools, and the extension of the Orbiter Docking System ring that will make first contact with the Station. The approach will include the first Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver, a slow back flip by Discovery about 600 feet below the Station immediately before the 6:18 a.m. CDT docking.

The maneuver will allow Station Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips to photograph Discovery's thermal protection system with 400mm and 800mm lenses. The images, taken through windows in the Station's Zvezda Service Module, are expected to be downlinked before hatches between Discovery and the Station are opened.

Today's imagery and laser scans will be compiled with other imagery taken during launch, and with data collected by wireless impact sensors in each panel of the wings' leading edges. Downlink of both preliminary and raw data from the sensors also was completed today. A team of about 200 people across the country are working to analyze imagery from the early part of Discovery's mission, the most photographed Shuttle flight in history.

The crew also completed the checkout of tools and two spacesuits to be used during the mission's three spacewalks. Two suits were also prepared for delivery to the Station for future Quest airlock spacewalks.

Discovery's crew was awakened at 10:39 p.m. CDT by the song "Vertigo" by U2 played for Pilot Jim Kelly. Capcom Shannon Lucid noted during the wakeup call that Kelly, whose nickname is "Vegas," was promoted to Colonel in the U.S. Air Force recently. The Station crew was awakened at 11:09 p.m. CDT by a tone onboard.

In this upcoming flight day, Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence and Kelly will guide the Station's robot arm, Canadarm2, to pluck the Multi Purpose Logistics Module from Discovery's cargo bay and install it on the Station. The MPLM, called Raffaello, will be attached to the Station's Unity module. While the crew was asleep, the Station flight control team verified Unity's attach mechanism is ready for the addition.

Kelly and Station Flight Engineer John Phillips will walk Canadarm2 off of the Destiny lab beginning at 4:39 a.m. CDT., onto the Mobile Base System for situational awareness views from its cameras for the survey. Mission Specialist Charlie Camarda and Kelly will begin additional focused inspections of Discovery's heat shield using the Shuttle arm and Orbiter Boom Sensor System shortly after 6 a.m. Central time.

Once the MPLM is in place, Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence and Station Commander Sergei Krikalev will begin activation of the module about 7:49 a.m. CDT and will enter about two hours later, at 9:49 a.m. CDT.

Commander Eileen Collins and Mission Specialist Andy Thomas will participate in interviews with the Associated Press Radio Network, National Public Radio and the CBS Radio Network at 5:19 a.m. CDT.

Additional preparations for Saturday's first spacewalk of the mission by Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson will continue during the day with a review of EVA procedures and a checkout of a small rescue device known as SAFER, for Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue, designed to allow an astronaut outside a spacecraft to return safety if they become untethered and separated from the spacecraft. Hatches between Discovery and Station will be closed as the Shuttle's cabin pressure is reduced to 10.2 psi for the pre-breathe period, during which spacewalkers will become gradually acclimated to the lower pressures of spacesuits.

The crews of Discovery and the Station are scheduled to go to sleep about 2:39 p.m. CDT.

Discovery Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot Jim Kelly flew Discovery through the rendezvous pitch maneuver about 600 feet below the Station about an hour before docking. The photos taken by Station Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips were transmitted to the ground before docking occurred at 6:18 a.m. CDT.

Discovery, the first Shuttle to visit the Station since late 2002, and the orbiting laboratory linked up over the southern Pacific Ocean west of the South American coast. The photos from Discovery's approach and many others from ground, aircraft and Shuttle and Station cameras are being carefully analyzed by a team of about 200 people to ensure Discovery's thermal protection system is safe for re-entry.

After the initial hugs and handshakes Krikalev gave a safety briefing for the new arrivals, Collins, Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda.

Among early tasks for the joint crews was preparation for additional robotic arm surveys of the orbiter. Tomorrow's schedule includes time for additional focused inspections.

Kelly and Lawrence, with help from Phillips, used the Station's Canadarm2 to lift the Orbiter Boom Sensor System from Discovery and hand it to the Shuttle arm. Camarda and Thomas steered the Shuttle arm, which cannot grasp the boom directly with the Station in the way.

Robinson and Noguchi, who will make three spacewalks at the Station, spent about an hour and a half getting equipment ready.

Tasks on the spacewalks Saturday, Monday and Tuesday include testing thermal protection system repair techniques, replacement of one of four Station control gyros (which control the orbiting laboratory's orientation in space) and restoration of power to another. The spacewalkers also will install an external spare parts carrier on the outside of the Station's Quest airlock.

Crewmembers were briefed on the loss of a piece of foam insulation from the external tank shortly after launch. The foam, seen by a camera on the tank making the first Shuttle flight in that position, did not appear to touch the orbiter. Shuttle managers determined that the cause of the foam loss needs to be understood and the problem fixed before Shuttle launches can resume.

Discovery and Station crewmembers began scheduled sleep periods about 2:40 p.m. CDT.

Engineering analysis continues on the imagery collected so far, but no apparently serious problems with Discovery's heat shield have been noted. Mission Manager Wayne Hale said in a Friday afternoon press conference, "We're feeling very good about Discovery coming home."

It was a very busy day for the crewmembers, Discovery Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda, and the Station's commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips.

Raffaello was unberthed from Discovery's cargo bay just before 1 a.m. CDT Friday by the Station's Canadarm2, operated by Lawrence and Kelly and attached to the Station's Unity Node. Hatches were opened a little after 10 a.m. Transfer of its cargo to the Station began soon thereafter. Crewmembers had begun transferring Station equipment and supplies from the Shuttle's mid-deck earlier.

Preparations for the targeted survey of Discovery's thermal protection system began with Kelly and Phillips attaching the end of Canadarm2 to the Station's Mobile Base System. They subsequently detached the other end from the Destiny Laboratory so the arm could be used in its new position to provide situational awareness views of the survey with its cameras.

Camarda and Kelly used the Shuttle's robot arm and the 50-foot Orbiter Boom Sensor System to look at six areas to determine if they had sustained damage. Mission managers said there was no indication of serious damage in early looks at downlink from that survey and earlier images. Detailed analysis of images starting with Discovery's Tuesday launch and continuing through Friday's survey was continuing.

Noguchi and Robinson will make three spacewalks at the Station, and today they continued preparations for the first, scheduled to begin at 3:44 a.m. Saturday. They reviewed spacewalk procedures and checked out the SAFER, or Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue, a rescue device to help a spacewalker who goes adrift return to the spacecraft.

Hatches between Discovery and Station were closed as the Shuttle's cabin pressure was reduced to 10.2 psi for the pre-breathe period, during which spacewalkers became gradually acclimated to the lower pressures of space suits to avoid formation of nitrogen bubbles in the blood. The excess air from the Shuttle was transferred to the Station to replenish its atmosphere.

Collins and Thomas talked with reporters from the Associated Press Radio Network, National Public Radio and the CBS Radio Network beginning a little after 5:20 a.m. CDT.

Discovery's crew was awakened at 10:43 p.m. CDT by the Japanese song "Sanpo," sung by a group of children, including Noguchi's. The Station crew was awakened at 11:09 p.m. CDT by a tone onboard.

Noguchi and Robinson's spacewalk preparations, including a pure oxygen pre-breathe and exercise procedure, will get underway at 12:39 a.m. CDT, with Intravehicular (IV) crewmember Andy Thomas' assistance. The procedure will purge the spacewalkers' blood of nitrogen to prevent the painful symptoms of "the bends" while wearing their low-pressure spacesuits.

About the same time, Station Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips will maneuver the Station's robotic arm into a position to support the spacewalk. At 12:55 a.m. CDT the pair will "walk off" Canadarm2 from the Mobile Base System to the Destiny lab and change its operating base. The arm will be operated by Shuttle Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence during the spacewalk to help install the External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2) Attachment Device (ESPAD) onto Station.

After the excursion begins and the spacewalkers have completed about an hour of tool setup, the first task is to test thermal protection system repair techniques. Noguchi and Robinson will work side-by-side in Discovery's cargo bay at a pallet of purposely damaged orbiter heat shield samples. They will practice the Emittance Wash Applicator (EWA) repair of tile samples and the NOAX (Non-Oxide Adhesive eXperimental) repair of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon samples.

After the testing is complete, the pair will move on to their Station assembly tasks. They will install the ESPAD and associated cabling on the Station's Quest airlock so that the ESP-2 can be installed on top during the third spacewalk.

Next, Noguchi will replace a Global Positioning System (GPS) antenna on the Station's truss structure. At the same time, Robinson will retrieve tools for the second spacewalk's Control Moment Gyroscope-1 replacement and swap connectors to restore power to the Station's CMG-2. The last job will be for both crewmembers to route cabling for the ESP-2 installation on the third spacewalk.

Once the spacewalk has begun and the Station's airlock's hatch is opened as an emergency door, the hatches between Discovery and Station will be re-opened so the crews can work together to support the spacewalk and continue transfer work. Commander Eileen Collins, Mission Specialist Charlie Camarda, Krikalev, Phillips and Lawrence will continue transferring water and other equipment to the Station from Discovery and the Raffaello cargo module. The hatches will be closed before the end of the spacewalk again to allow the crew to re-enter the Shuttle airlock. Once the crew is inside and the Shuttle's airlock is repressurized, the hatches will be re-opened.

At 8:09 a.m. CDT, Kelly and Camarda are scheduled to perform additional surveys of Discovery's wing leading edge Reinforced Carbon-Carbon with the Shuttle arm and Orbiter Boom Sensor System. They will use the sensors to focus on seven areas of interest along the port wing.

The crews of Discovery and the Station are scheduled to go to sleep about 2:39 p.m. CDT.

Two additional collapsible water containers holding more than 10 gallons each are expected to be added to the cargo transfer list before the Shuttle leaves, bringing to 17 the number that will be left behind, a substantial increase in the amount of available water.

ISS Program Manager Bill Gerstenmaier said in a Saturday news conference that the program was very happy to have the additional supplies and that the station's consumables status had improved considerably with Discovery's visit.

Mission Manager Wayne Hale said Saturday that the added mission day will be added to the crew's schedule after the third spacewalk day.

Hale also noted Saturday that Discovery's protective tiles and thermal blankets passed review and are cleared for entry. Analysis continues on the reinforced carbon-carbon areas and two protruding gap fillers.

Also Sunday, astronauts will make preparations for the second spacewalk of the mission scheduled for Monday. Discovery's cabin pressure will be reduced to 10.2 psi to prepare Mission Specialists Stephen Robinson and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for their work outside the spacecraft.

Space Shuttle and Space Station crewmembers will participate in two separate in-flight interviews. Shuttle Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Charlie Camarda will talk to reporters with ABC News, Fox News and NBC's "Meet the Press" at 5:49 a.m. CDT. Collins, Robinson, Noguchi and NASA ISS Science Officer John Phillips will speak with CBS News, CNN and Discovery Channel reporters at 7:39 a.m.

Discovery's crew was awakened at 11:11 p.m. CDT by the song "I'm Goin' Up," by Claire Lynch for Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence. The Space Station crew was awakened about the same time by a tone onboard.

The crews of Discovery and the Space Station are scheduled to go to sleep about 2:09 p.m. CDT.

Mission managers today also decided to extend Discovery's mission by one day to spend more time docked with the International Space Station. Astronauts are busy transferring more water and supplies to the ISS in case the next Shuttle mission is delayed. An additional 10 gallons of water was transferred along with a pair of laptop computers and other supplies.

Astronauts Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency wrapped up a successful 6-hour, 50-minute spacewalk at 11:36 a.m. Saturday, completing a demonstration of Shuttle thermal protection repair techniques and enhancements to the Station's attitude control system.

For the repair demonstration, they worked with tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon intentionally damaged on the ground and brought into space in Discovery's cargo bay. They tested an Emittance Wash Applicator for tile repair and Non-Oxide Adhesive eXperimental (NOAX) for the reinforced carbon-carbon samples.

Helped by Astronaut Andy Thomas, who served as a coach and monitor from Shuttle's aft flight deck, they also installed a base and cabling for a stowage platform and rerouted power to Control Moment Gyroscope-2 (CMG-2), one of four 600-pound gyroscopes that control the orientation of the Station in orbit.

CMG-2 has been healthy, but a faulty circuit breaker interrupted its power supply in March. Since that time the Station had operated successfully on two CMGs. About 9:20 a.m. Mission Control told the astronauts they saw power again flowing to CMG-2. Plans call for it to be spun up to its 6,600 rpm operating speed over the next several hours and subsequently put back into the attitude control mix. Another gyroscope, CMG-1 which failed in 2002, is to be replaced Monday on the second of three spacewalks. They also replaced a faulty global positioning system antenna on the Station.

The spacewalk began at 4:46 a.m., after deliberate preparations delayed the planned start. The Station crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips, had moved the orbiting laboratory's Canadarm2 into position to help Noguchi and Robinson's work. Discovery Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence ran the arm, helping the spacewalkers install the stowage platform base.

The spacewalkers had time for some get-ahead tasks near the end of their spacewalk, bringing in two experiments that exposed a variety of materials samples to the harsh vacuum and extreme temperatures of space. Noguchi also photographed some insulation on the port side of Discovery's cabin.

Hatches between the Station and Discovery had been closed in preparation for the spacewalk. Once hatches were reopened, remaining crewmembers, Eileen Collins and Mission Specialist Charlie Camarda, went about other tasks, including transfer of cargo from the Shuttle to the Station.

Among those tasks was another survey of parts of Discovery's thermal protection system by the Shuttle's robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System. Kelly and Camarda, operating the arm, focused their attention on seven areas of interest along the leading edge of Discovery's port wing.

After analysis of many images taken of Discovery during and after its launch, including information from previous surveys like the one done Saturday, no damage that would threaten a safe landing by the Shuttle has been identified. About 25 dings have been seen on Discovery, compared to a mission average of 145 in missions before Columbia's loss.

The pair will have about an hour of setup time after exiting Space Shuttle Discovery's airlock and positioning themselves at the Station's Z1 truss segment. Mission Control will shut down the failed Control Moment Gyroscope 1 (CMG1) about 4:09 a.m. CDT and then give a go for the spacewalkers to start removing it about 15 minutes later. Mission Specialist Andy Thomas will choreograph the activities from inside and relay information from Mission Control to the spacewalkers.

Noguchi will take the failed CMG to Discovery's cargo bay while riding the Station's robot arm. He will temporarily store it until the new gyro is removed and the old one can be placed in its carrier with Robinson's help. Noguchi will then carry the new gyro at the end of the robot arm to the Z1 truss. Discovery Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence will operate Canadarm2 for the spacewalk.

After it is installed, Station flight controllers will power up and check out the new gyroscope about 8:14 a.m. CDT and start it up at 8:39 a.m. CDT. With CMG1 replaced, the full complement of four gyroscopes will be available for Station operations. CMG2 has operated well since the spacewalkers restored power to it in the first spacewalk Saturday.

Inside the orbiting complex, Station residents Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips and Discovery Commander Eileen Collins and Mission Specialist Charlie Camarda will continue transferring equipment and supplies between the two vehicles. Collins will focus on collecting byproduct water from Discovery's power generation system for transfer to Station.

Discovery's crew was awakened at 10:09 p.m. CDT by the song "Walk of Life," by Dire Straits for Robinson. The Space Station crew was awakened at 10:39 p.m. CDT by a tone onboard.

The crews of Discovery and the Space Station are scheduled to go to sleep about 2:09 p.m. CDT.

Noguchi, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Robinson, along with remaining Discovery crewmembers, Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda, worked on moving items from the Shuttle to the Station. They were helped by International Space Station Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA ISS Science Officer John Phillips.

Approximately six tons of hardware and equipment, including the 600-pound Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) that will be installed on the exterior of the Station during Monday's spacewalk, will be moved from Discovery to the Station. Just over three and a half tons of material, including the replaced CMG, will return to Earth aboard Discovery.

Noguchi, Robinson and Thomas prepared for Monday's spacewalk by setting up some of the tools they will use to install the new CMG outside the Station. Thomas will once again serve as coach and monitor inside Discovery during the spacewalk. Working from aboard the Station, Kelly and Lawrence will use the Station's Canadarm2 to maneuver Noguchi between the two spacecraft during the removal and installation of the CMGs. In preparation for that activity, Kelly and Lawrence "walked" the Station arm into position on the Destiny Laboratory. All nine crewmembers also participated in a review of spacewalk activities near the end of their working day.

Collins, Kelly and Camarda talked with reporters from ABC News, Fox News and NBC at about 5:40 a.m. CDT. About 7:25 a.m. Collins, Noguchi, Robinson and Phillips talked with CBS News, CNN and Discovery Channel.

Engineers and mission managers continued to analyze information about Discovery's thermal protection system. They have cleared the orbiter's tiles and a decision was expected later today on the analysis of reinforced carbon-carbon protection for the nose cone and wing leading edges.

Mission managers continue to look at two gap-filler areas. These coated-fiber gap fillers are used to keep hot gas from flowing into gaps in the thermal protection, in these two cases, in tile-protected areas. Two gap fillers are protruding, and teams are working to determine whether any action is required by the crew.

Discovery's crew was awakened at 10:09 p.m. CDT by the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain," by Harry McClintock for Mission Specialist Andy Thomas. The Space Station crew was awakened at 10:39 p.m. CDT by a tone onboard.

Mission managers decided to remove two gap fillers that are protruding from areas between heat-shielding tile on the Shuttle's underbelly. It is a relatively simple process that can be accomplished as an add-on task to Wednesday's spacewalk.

During the spacewalk, Mission Specialist Steve Robinson will venture under the Space Shuttle on the tip of the Station's robotic arm, locate the protrusions and gently tug until they come out. If that does not work, Robinson will have tools to cut off the protrusions.

Robinson, fellow spacewalker Soichi Noguchi and spacewalk choreographer Andy Thomas will spend time Tuesday assembling a hack saw for the removal job and reviewing the new procedure.

All of the Shuttle and Station crewmembers will participate in a news conference at 4:59 a.m. CDT. Krikalev and Phillips will be interviewed by reporters at Mission Control Moscow at 5:45 a.m. CDT. It will be replayed with translation on NASA TV at 6:15 a.m. CDT.

At 6:39 a.m. CDT Discovery Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence will grapple the External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2) and unberth it from Discovery's payload bay. This is in preparation for the hardware's installation at the beginning of Wednesday's spacewalk. Preparing the ESP-2 Tuesday provides the extra time for the tile gap filler task during the spacewalk.

Before the Shuttle and Station crews go to sleep, the hatch will be closed between the two vehicles and the Shuttle's cabin will be depressurized to 10.2 psi on the eve of the last spacewalk. The crews are scheduled to go to sleep about 2:09 p.m. CDT.

Spacewalk experts presented a plan to mission managers in Monday's Mission Management Team meeting. Space Shuttle Deputy Program Manager Wayne Hale, in a Monday afternoon briefing, said that with the level of uncertainty involved in flying a reentry with protruding gap fillers it was an easy decision to move ahead with a well-understood process for removing them.

Early Monday, Robinson and Noguchi replaced a 600-pound gyroscope on the International Space Station, leaving the orbiting laboratory with a complete functional set of four. Called control moment gyros, or CMGs, the 600-pound devices maintain the Station's orientation in space, the way it is pointed and which part faces the Earth as it orbits the planet.

The 7-hour, 14-minute spacewalk began at 3:42 a.m CDT. After leaving the Discovery airlock, Noguchi and Robinson made their way hand-over-hand to the Station's Z1 Truss, atop the Unity Node where the four CMGs are housed. There Noguchi, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, attached himself to a foot platform at the end of the Station's Canadarm2, operated by Discovery Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence.

Coached and monitored by Mission Specialist Andy Thomas on Discovery's aft flight deck, the spacewalkers removed CMG-1, which had failed in June 2002. Noguchi held it as the arm took him back to the rear of Discovery's cargo bay, where he and Robinson, who had moved back on his own, temporarily stowed it. They then took the new CMG from its cradle, and Noguchi held it while the arm moved him back to the Z1 Truss.

There he and Robinson installed it in the space vacated by the failed device. That completed, flight controllers began the hours-long process of checking out the new CMG-1 and spinning it up to its 6,600 rpm operating speed.

On the mission's first spacewalk on Saturday, Noguchi and Robinson had rerouted CMG-2's power supply. A faulty circuit breaker had interrupted that power supply in March. The two spacewalks leave the Station with four functioning CMG's. The station can hold its attitude on two, but more will be required as it grows.

Discovery Commander Eileen Collins and Mission Specialist Charlie Camarda, along with the Station's Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips, worked Monday on transferring cargo to and from the Station. The 3,768 pounds of up-bound cargo from the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello, which came to the Station in Discovery's cargo bay and then was attached to a docking port on the Unity Node, has been transferred to the Station. Work continues to stow it and to reload Raffaello with equipment and trash to be returned to Earth.

Discovery's astronauts worked much of today on preparations for Wednesday's gap filler repair spacewalk. Transfer of materials to and from the International Space Station continued with crewmembers of both spacecraft making good progress.

Spacewalkers Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson spent an hour this morning beginning about 2:40 a.m. CDT with Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Wendy Lawrence, and Pilot Jim Kelly on a review of spacewalk procedures. Thomas, as the intravehicular crewmember, will coach and monitor the spacewalkers, while Lawrence and Kelly will operate the Station's Canadarm2.

That robotic arm will carry Robinson to the repair sites on the underside of the forward part of Discovery where he will either gently pull out the protruding gap fillers with his hand or with forceps, or remove the protrusions with a hacksaw.

After the procedure review, Lawrence and Kelly spent the subsequent 45 minutes in computer training for the arm tasks, using the Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics program, or DOUG. Meanwhile, the spacewalkers and Thomas worked on assembly of the hacksaw that would be used if other methods do not work.

About 7:40 a.m. Lawrence and Kelly, using Canadarm2, unberthed External Stowage Platform 2 from Discovery's cargo bay. Noguchi and Robinson installed the platform's attachment device on the mission's first spacewalk on Saturday, and the platform itself is to be installed on the attachment device during Wednesday's spacewalk.

After lunch on board, Noguchi, Robinson and Thomas worked on spacewalk tool configuration. Near the end of their work day, all nine crewmembers on board, including Discovery Commander Eileen Collins and Station crewmembers, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips, did a spacewalk review.

The spacewalkers began a prebreathe of pure oxygen about 10:50 a.m., a little more than an hour before hatches linking Discovery and the Station were closed so the Shuttle could be depressurized to 10.2 psi. Both the prebreathe and the depressurization were aimed at reducing the nitrogen content of the spacewalkers' blood to reduce the possibility of nitrogen bubble formation in their bloodstreams during the spacewalk. Wednesday's spacewalk is scheduled to begin at about 3:14 a.m. CDT.

Late in the crew day Tuesday, astronauts received a phone call from President George Bush. The President thanked the crew for taking risks for the sake of exploration and wished them well in the remainder of their mission.

The crew began the day waking up at 10:09 p.m. CDT to "Where My Heart Will Take Me," the theme song from Star Trek: Enterprise. The song, composed by Dennis McCarthy, was selected for the crew as a surprise dedication from the Deputy Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale. The International Space Station Expedition 11 crew of Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips woke 30 minutes later.

Mission Specialists Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi are scheduled to begin their third spacewalk at 3:14 a.m. CDT as they exit out of the Space Shuttle airlock. The two will be assisted by Andy Thomas, serving as the intravehicular officer overseeing the spacewalk from inside, as well as Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda who will be supporting various robotic arm activities throughout the day.

The spacewalk is scheduled to last about 7 hours. The first task entails Kelly and Lawrence maneuvering the External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2), via the Station's robotic arm, which they pulled from Discovery's payload bay earlier today, onto the Station. As the ESP-2 reaches its final position, Robinson and Noguchi will guide the structure and secure it into place. With that task complete, Lawrence and Kelly will conduct a "walk off" maneuver of the Station robotic arm, by attaching the "free" end to the Mobile Base System and releasing the other end from the Destiny Laboratory module to where it will be needed as a platform for Robinson later in the EVA.

The two spacewalkers will move on to individual tasks, with Noguchi installing the Materials International Space Station Experiment-5 (MISSE-5), a materials experiment that will study the degradation of solar cell samples in the space environment. He'll then remove the Rotary Joint Motor Controller from the Space Station truss before proceeding to a support position to assist Robinson in his final tasks.

Meanwhile, Kelly will work with Camarda, using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to inspect repair demonstration tiles inside the Shuttle's payload bay. Later, Camarda will also work with Krikalev and Phillips to continue stowing supplies and equipment inside Discovery and the Station. Discovery Commander Eileen Collins will monitor and supervise all the activities.

Robinson, now attached to the Station robotic arm, will attempt to repair two tile gap filler protrusions located on the underside of Discovery. He will first try to gently pull out the protruding material, and if need be, remove by trimming with a hacksaw.

Gap fillers are used in areas to restrict the flow of hot gas into the gaps between Thermal Protection System components. They consist of a layer of coated Nextel fabric and are normally about 0.020-inch thick. These protrusions were identified from photos taken during the rendezvous pitch maneuver conducted on flight day three, as Discovery approached the orbiting Space Station.

The crews are scheduled to go to sleep about 2:09 p.m. CDT.

The seven-member Shuttle crew awoke to the well-known country song "Amarillo by Morning," performed by George Strait, at 10:09 p.m. CDT. Their Station counterparts, the Expedition 11 crew of Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer and NASA ISS Science Officer John Phillips, woke up 30 minutes later.

The morning includes an in-flight media interview for Commander Eileen Collins, and Mission Specialists Steve Robinson and Charlie Camarda. Elsewhere on the complex, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence will be performing a few robotic arm operations, as they release the Station's Canadarm2 from the Mobile Base System and attach it to the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). That task is being done in preparation for return of the MPLM to Discovery's payload bay.

Midway through the crew day, at about 4:19 a.m. CDT, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Astronaut Soichi Noguchi and Collins will participate in a special video conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi; and Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Nariaki Nakayama. JAXA Astronaut Dr. Mamoru Mohri and several Japanese students and citizens will also participate in the call.

Later, Robinson, Camarda and Noguchi will continue stowage of equipment and supplies in the MPLM on the Shuttle and Space Station. Phillips and Krikalev will help with that activity as well before all of the crewmembers stop to share a special evening meal together.

About an hour later, at 7:04 a.m. CDT, the joint crews have planned a commemorative in-flight event paying tribute to the STS-107 Columbia crew. That event will air on NASA TV. The remainder of the day will be off-duty time for the Shuttle crew as they prepare for the final days of their mission.

Phillips and Krikalev will spend about two hours configuring the Common Berthing Mechanism for the MPLM removal before ending their workday with routine daily planning conference with ground controllers.

"It looks like this big patient is cured," Robinson told delighted flight controllers.

Fellow spacewalker Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency helped Robinson with preparations, and from a perch near the end of a Space Station truss acted as observer and communication relay station between Robinson and astronaut Andy Thomas aboard Discovery. Thomas was the onboard coach and monitor for Robinson and Noguchi throughout the 6-hour 1-minute spacewalk. Discovery Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence operated the Station's Canadarm2, which moved Robinson to and from the worksite. Today's spacewalk, the third of the mission, began at 3:48 a.m. CDT and concluded at 9:49 a.m.

Deputy Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale, in Wednesday's afternoon briefing, said "The crew demonstrated consummate professionalism and coolness beyond belief. They [the gap fillers] came out just as we thought they would. It looked easy but was not, which is a tribute to the crew and the team on the ground that planned it, so we're proud of that."

Gap fillers like those Robinson removed today are thin, coated Nextel fabric. The protruding gap fillers were identified in photos taken by Station crewmembers using telephoto lenses as Discovery did a slow back flip about 600 feet below before docking.

During the spacewalk Noguchi and Robinson, helped by the Station's robotic arm, installed an external stowage platform outside the station that will be used to house spare parts. Noguchi also installed another Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE). Like its predecessors, MISSE 5 exposes samples of various materials to the harsh space environment for several months.

In other activities, Kelly worked with Mission Specialist Charlie Camarda on an inspection of the repair demonstration tiles in Discovery's cargo bay. Using the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, they looked at tiles brought up for an experimental repair by Robinson and Noguchi on the mission's first spacewalk Saturday.

Station crewmembers, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips, continued to stow equipment and supplies on the Station and Shuttle. Discovery Commander Eileen Collins operated shuttle systems and supervised activities.

Hale also said the only part of Discovery's heat shield not yet cleared for entry is a bulging thermal blanket below the Shuttle commander's window. Managers will meet Thursday morning to review tests to help determine whether the blanket might pose a concern for entry.

"Anchors Aweigh" was the Shuttle crew wake-up song for the day, played at 9:15 p.m. CDT. The song was dedicated to Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence at the request of Commander Eileen Collins. Space Station Expedition 11 crewmates John Phillips and Sergei Krikalev woke 30 minutes later.

The first tasks of the day center on preparation of the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) for its berthing back into Discovery's cargo bay. That module was removed from Discovery on Flight Day 4, mated to the Station and unloaded. Discovery and the MPLM are now loaded with 7,055 lbs. of unneeded equipment and trash for return to Earth.

Pilot Jim Kelly and Lawrence will operate the Station robotic arm later in the day to move Raffaello from the Station and gently place it back into Discovery's cargo bay at 6:34 a.m. CDT. Then, joined by Mission Specialists Charlie Camarda and Andy Thomas, the four will use the Shuttle arm to return the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to its secured position on the sill of the payload bay for the ride back to Earth.

Throughout the day, the on-orbit team will continue with stowing equipment on Discovery's middeck and configurations for undocking, including Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Steve Robinson and Thomas making final configurations and stowage of the spacesuits.

Both crews are scheduled for sleep at 1:09 p.m. CDT Friday with hatch closing and undocking scheduled early Saturday morning.

Thursday's Mission Management Team decision put to rest the work that was being done to assess the health of the thermal protection system. The tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon on Discovery's wings and nose were cleared earlier for entry.

Discovery and International Space Station crewmembers Thursday delivered a moving tribute to members of the Columbia crew and others, astronauts and cosmonauts, who lost their lives in the human exploration of space.

Each crewmember, in red shirt with Columbia's STS-107 mission patch spoke during the tribute as the docked spacecraft flew over the southern Indian Ocean approaching a sunset. Station Science Officer John Phillips said: "To the crew of Columbia, as well as the crews of Challenger, Apollo 1, Soyuz 1 and 11, and to those who have courageously given so much, we now offer our enduring thanks."

Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency repeated Phillips' words in Japanese during the tribute, and Station Commander Sergei Krikalev spoke them in Russian.

After their successful Wednesday spacewalk, Discovery and Station crewmembers continued transfer activities, mostly packing the Multi-Purpose Logistic Module Raffaello with items from the Station. The pressurized cargo carrier is to be unberthed Friday from the Station's Unity Node and returned to Discovery's cargo bay for the trip back to Earth.

Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence attached the Station's Canadarm2 to Raffaello in preparation for its unberthing.

Discovery Commander Eileen Collins, spacewalking Mission Specialist Steve Robinson and Mission Specialist Charlie Carmada talked with reporters from the Associated Press and NBC. A little later Collins and Noguchi spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Japanese astronaut Mamoru Mohri and others, including Japanese students.

Crewmembers had an hour together for a common meal, then the seven Discovery astronauts had the afternoon off. The Station crew spent about two hours preparing equipment for the unberthing of Raffaello.

Discovery Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda, also made preparations for Saturday's undocking of the orbiter. Station crewmembers, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips, helped.

Raffaello is loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of items bound for Earth, including equipment, experiment results and even personal gear of crewmembers dating back to Expedition 6, which left the Station in May 2003. Items for return to Earth have accumulated aboard the orbiting laboratory since the last Shuttle visit in December 2002.

Lawrence and Kelly used the station arm to unberth the module and return it to Discovery. The berthing was completed at 9:03 a.m. CDT. Raffaello, one of three pressurized cargo carrying modules built in Italy for use aboard the Shuttle, brought 3,768 pounds of equipment and supplies to the Station.

After Raffaello was secured in Discovery's cargo bay, Camarda and Thomas used the Shuttle arm to hand off the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to the Station arm. Lawrence and Kelly reberthed the OBSS in its position on the starboard sill of the cargo bay.

After that operation, Lawrence radioed congratulations to those on the ground for the performance of the Canadian-built OBSS and robotic arms. She and Kelly radioed down the Halleluiah Chorus from Handel's Messiah to emphasize those congratulatory words.

Discovery is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station at 2:24 a.m. CDT Saturday. Landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is scheduled for 3:46 a.m. CDT Monday.

Following a crew farewell ceremony at 11:36 p.m. CDT, hatches between the spacecraft were closed at 12:14 a.m. CDT, with Discovery's undocking planned for 2:24 a.m. CDT Saturday morning.

"The Air Force Song" was the Shuttle crew wake-up song for the day, played at 9:09 p.m. CDT. The song was dedicated to Pilot Jim Kelly, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, at the request of Commander Eileen Collins. Space Station Expedition 11 crewmates John Phillips and Sergei Krikalev woke 30 minutes later.

After Discovery undocks from the Station, with Kelly at the controls, the Shuttle will fly around the Space Station about 400 feet away to allow the Shuttle crew to take photographs of the complex.

The flyaround maneuver will begin at 2:54 a.m. CDT, and Discovery's final separation from the Station begins with an engine firing at 4:09 a.m. CDT.

The majority of the rest of the day will be free time for Discovery and the Station crew.

Discovery's crew, including Collins, Kelly and Mission Specialists Steve Robinson, Soichi Noguchi, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda, is scheduled for sleep at 11:39 a.m. CDT Saturday.

The Station crew, which will soon begin working back toward its normal workday hours, is scheduled to sleep at 1:09 p.m. CDT.

The crew was awakened at 7:39 p.m. CDT by "The One and Only Flower in the World" sung by the Japanese group SMAP. It was played for Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Steve Robinson, who also serves as Discovery's Flight Engineer, will checkout the orbiter's flight control system at 10:39 p.m. CDT. The three also will test the Reaction Control System with a hot fire of the jets at 11:49 p.m. CDT.

In the meantime, Noguchi, along with Mission Specialists Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda will put away equipment that has been in use during the mission. Noguchi and Thomas will stow the Ku-band communications antenna at 8:19 a.m. CDT.

The entire group will gather on Discovery's flight deck and take a moment to answer questions from reporters at 3:06 a.m. CDT.

After its departure Saturday, Discovery is now about 90 miles away from the International Space Station and increasing that gap by about 8 miles each time it orbits the Earth.

Onboard the Station, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Station Science Officer John Phillips are returning to their normal schedule, waking up at 1 a.m. CDT Sunday. They are enjoying a restful weekend after nearly 9 full days of work with the Shuttle crew.

Discovery's crew is scheduled for sleep at 11:39 a.m. CDT Sunday.

Pilot Jim Kelly was at the controls as latches between the two vehicles were released and Discovery began to back gently away from the Station. Undocking occurred at 2:24 a.m. CDT as the two spacecraft flew high over the Pacific Ocean, west of Chile.

As Discovery moved away to a distance of about 400 feet, Kelly began a slow fly-around of the Station. Cameras on each spacecraft captured video and still images of the other.

After the fly-around, Kelly executed the first of two separation burns to move Discovery away from the Station and begin its trip home. The entire crew - Commander Eileen Collins, Kelly, and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Steve Robinson, Charlie Camarda and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) enjoyed some scheduled off-duty time before going to sleep at 11:39 a.m. CDT.

The crew will awaken at 7:39 p.m. CDT and turn its attention to stowing away much of the equipment used over the past 11 days in orbit, and verifying operation of Discovery's flight control surfaces and system.

Over the course of nine days of joint work, the crews moved more than 12,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the Station and will return about 7,000 pounds of material from the Station to Earth. Spacewalkers Noguchi and Robinson left all four of the Station's attitude control gyroscopes functioning with the removal and replacement of one of the 600-pound units. They also installed a new stowage platform on the exterior of the Station and worked with an experiment that exposes a variety of materials samples to the harsh vacuum and extreme temperatures of space. Discovery was docked with the Station for 8 days, 19 hours and 54 minutes.

Aboard the Station, newly resupplied and emptied of surplus gear, Commander Sergei Kirkalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips also had a light-duty day after undocking.

In preparation for tomorrow's 3:47 a.m. CDT landing, Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Steve Robinson activated one of three hydraulic systems on Discovery and tested all of its aerosurfaces and steering jets. The rest of the crew - Andy Thomas, Soichi Noguchi, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda - completed packing up gear and hardware. The seven-member crew took a moment early this morning to talk with CBS, CNN, Fox, NBC and ABC, discussing their mission and upcoming return to Earth.

Discovery has two opportunities to land at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday. The first begins with a 3 minute, 7 second deorbit burn of the Orbital Maneuvering System engines at 2:40 a.m., followed by landing at 3:47 a.m. CDT.

In the event weather prevents landing on that first opportunity, a second is available, with deorbit burn at 4:15 a.m. resulting in a 5:22 a.m. CDT landing. It will be the 15th night landing in Florida and 20th overall for the Space Shuttle Program.

Weather forecasters predict favorable conditions with light and variable winds and a slight chance of showers in the vicinity of the three-mile-long landing strip. The backup site at California's Edwards Air Force Base was not activated for Monday.

On the International Space Station, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips had a light-duty day as flight controllers added the fourth Control Moment Gyroscope to the Station's attitude control mix. For the first time since June 2002, the Station has use of all four 600-pound units. Noguchi and Robinson replaced one CMG and restored power to another during spacewalks.

Discovery has two opportunities to land at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday. The first begins with a 3 minute, 7 second deorbit burn of the Orbital Maneuvering System engines at 2:40 a.m., followed by landing at 3:47 a.m. CDT.

In the event weather prevents landing on that first opportunity, a second is available, with deorbit burn at 4:15 a.m. resulting in a 5:22 a.m. CDT landing. It will be the 15th night landing in Florida and 20th overall for the Space Shuttle Program.

Weather forecasters predict favorable conditions with good visibility and only a slight chance of showers over the water in the vicinity of the three-mile-long landing strip. The backup site at California's Edwards Air Force Base was not activated for Monday.

The crew was awakened at 7:39 p.m. CDT by the song "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners. It was played for Discovery's Commander Eileen Collins from the Mission Control Team.

Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Steve Robinson, who also serves as Discovery's Flight Engineer, and Mission Specialist Andy Thomas will be on the flight deck for landing. Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda will be on Discovery's middeck.

After its departure Saturday, Discovery is now about 200 miles away from the International Space Station and increasing that gap by about 9 miles each time it orbits the Earth. Onboard the Station, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Station Science Officer John Phillips have returned to their normal schedule, waking up at 1 a.m. CDT Monday.

The landing marked the sixth night landing at Edwards Air Force Base, and the 50th time overall that a Shuttle concluded its mission in the California desert.

Commander Eileen Collins and Pilot Jim Kelly, assisted by Mission Specialist Steve Robinson, began Discovery's return to earth by firing the spacecraft's orbital maneuvering system engines to slow its speed and begin its descent. Discovery's ground track took it from the firing of the 2 minute, 42-second deorbit burn at 6:06 a.m. over the western Indian Ocean, traveling in a loop around Australia, then northeast across the Pacific, across the California coast north of Los Angeles and then to Edwards.

Persistent thunderstorms at the primary landing site in Florida resulted in a wave-off of two opportunities to return to the launch site today.

The STS-114 flight of Discovery with Collins, Kelly, Robinson and Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda provided unprecedented information on the condition of an orbiter in space. Noguchi and Robinson did three successful spacewalks at the International Space Station and Discovery transported tons of equipment and supplies to and from the Station.

From the Station, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Science Officer John Phillips sent their congratulations to Discovery's crew and the flight control team in Houston.

Discovery's crew will have a welcome home ceremony at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Houston's Ellington Field.